Destination

Huatulco Tourist Guide
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HUATULCO IS AN EARTHCHECK DESTINATION

Bahias de Huatulco is located in Oaxaca's Coast, at the end of the Southern Sierra Madre. Including 22 miles of the Mexican Pacific, between Coyula and Copalita rivers.

Due to Bahias de Huatulco's geographic conditions, its topography is populated by mountains, valleys and slopes, irrigated by Coyula, San Agustin and Copalita rivers, this gives a special tone to the magnificent landscape where the 9 bays are found.

Huatulco is the 5th integral development for the Federal Government through the National Tourism Fund, and is compounded by a 21 thousand hectares of territory and a coast of 22 miles.

FLORA AND FAUNA

The vegetation at Bahias de Huatulco is exuberant, there you can find the main arboreal species, like tepguanje, cazarate, poppy, fichus, mecianos, colorin, as well as the thorny low forest, thorny scrub, gallery forest and mangle in the coast cord. The fauna is the typical in the neo tropical zones where there's a lack of big mammals and predators; camp rats, mice, armadillos, bunnies, squirrels and white tailed deer can be found. There is also a wide variety of reptiles and amphibians like salamanders, frogs, toads, iguanas, turtles and snakes, as well as an extensive variety of birds, where the most important are the hawks, sparrow hawks, owls, doves, pelicans, gulls and sparrows.

Huatulco is also rich in marine fauna. Emphasizing the oyster, lobster, shrimp, dolphin, turtle, huachinango, clam, snail and occasionally whales.

Bahias de Huatulco is one of the biggest ecosystems in the Mexican Republic, to such grade, that mexican president Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon declared it a protected zone, and in time, became a national park. The first proposal was made by the Environmental Secretary, Natural Resources and Fishing, Marine and Telecommunications & Transports in 1997.

Some important data you should know about Bahias de Huatulco's National Park...

Existing in the park:

• 9 thousand plant species (more than 50% of the nationwide species)
• 264 species and subspecies of mammal (40% of nationwide level)
• 701 bird species (63% of nationwide level)
• 470 reptile species (26% of nationwide level)
• 100 amphibian species
• 80% of the vegetation is low forest caducifolia, with species up to 59 feet high (very peculiar for that type of forest).

Coral at: Cacaluta, La India, Chachacual, Riscalillo, San Agustin.

Fauna: black Iguana, turtles, traveling hawk, ocelot, tigrillo, jaguarundi, puma, anteater, otter.

Protected fauna: 56 species of rare vertebrates, 278 species of birds (40.5% of the bird fauna in the state).

Huatulco, in the colonial era, was considered as the best port in the Pacific Ocean, because Tehuantepec was on decay and Acapulco is less accessible. Huatulco also gives more security, for its configuration and surrounding hills.

In 1831, the independent age, on January 20th arrived to Huatulco's coasts the Colombo ship, where General Vicente Guerrero (statesman and Mexico's President) was prisoner, he was disembarked at the Santa Cruz Bay, in a beach that now is known as "La Entrega" (the delivery).

From there Vicente Guerrero was transferred to Oaxaca, where he was condemned to death penalty and executed on February 14th that same year.

WEATHER

One of many beauties of this place is its weather: warm, sub-humid, with a mid range temperature of 82°F. For winter a minimum temperature of 57¨¬F is registered and a maximum of 100¨¬F for summer and the end of the spring; this, without a doubt is a guarantee for the visitor who's looking for rest under the warm sun.

TOURS

BAYS' TOURS

By taking this excellent tour, you will learn the matchless beauty of our bays and beaches, as well as the magnificent underwater parks and capricious rocky formations and the rock face at the organo bay, in this tour you will have the chance to swim and snorkel to enjoy the coral reefs, and don't forget the music, the fun and the exquisite seafood.

RAFTING

This extraordinary route where the vegetation of the place is combined with the experience of rafting which will give you the emotion of diving in the river and living the adventure on your life, allowing you to know the corners of both rivers of the region, you choose between the variety of rafting routes, from class I to IV, the route can be done in several types of boats (Kayaks, rafts or canoes) being one of the most intense tours for the combination of water and landscapes of the gorges.

MOTO TOURS

For the emotion on wheels, there are tours through the jungle, in four-wheelers, visiting virgin beaches, where you'll have the opportunity to swim and tan or play in sand dunes, this tour promises emotion and fun. Appropriate clothes, bathing suit, suntan lotion, towel.

SPORT FISHING

The splendid waters of Bahias de Huatulco, are excellent for the practice of this sport, where the dreams of the fishermen become reality. Marlin, tuna and huachinango, are just a few of the species found, where the prey is simply as large as your pride.

DIVING

Huatulco offers about 13 different sites for diving, most of these within Huatulco's National Park and some are just 5 minutes away from the wharf. With interesting coral reefs and a fascinating diversity of marine fauna; you'll find species like: angel fish, butterfly, surgeons, globes, flute, rays, lobsters, octopus and with a little luck, observe sea horses, manta rays, eagle fish and turtles. Huatulco already counts with one hiperbaric camera located at the Naval Hospital, with which Huatulco is outlined as an international level diving zone.

BICYCLE

Are you ready for a bicycle tour through the forest?. This is an unforgettable tour where you'll perceive the flora and fauna of the place, prepare yourself to watch any kind of local birds or animals. (16 miles approximately).

The City tour will take you to La Crucecita and Santa Cruz, where you'll know the most important points of interest in the place.

LONG WALKS

You can choose one of two options for this tour, either Huatulco's National Park, where you'll see a variety of species of the region, or waking up very early in the morning to observe the beautiful dawns in Huatulco, visiting the archaeological zone Punta Celeste which will drive us to Copalita river's opening, where the river and the ocean meet, observing migratory birds and an infinity of wonderful species.

OAXACA is the land of mezcal (Granfather's of the Tequila), the Guelaguetza and a magical cuisine. Oaxaca is located in the south of Mexico, borders on Guerrero, Puebla, Veracruz and Chiapas and has a spectacular Pacific Coastline. Its scenery contains natural contrasts that make it unusually attractive. It is surrounded by the Sierra Madre Oriental, which leads into the Nudo Mixteco and the Sierra Madre del Sur. The Central Valleys are formed by a depression between these mountain chains.

After the Conquest, the territory was divided into the capitals of the valley and the isthmus. Oaxaca City, the state capital, is one of the loveliest cities in the country, with its magnificent churches and civil buildings, surrounded by villages of craftspeople, jealous of their traditions and their marvelous natural attractions. Oaxaca's coasts have some of the most exotic beaches on the Mexican Pacific.

HUATULCO IS AN EARTHCHECK DESTINATION